$39.6 million: Debt service

Editor's note: This is part of an everyday series exploring individual line items in state and local budgets. Read the entire series atwww.dailypress.com/watchdog.

Sometimes cities need to borrow money to pay the tab for high dollar projects, and Hampton is no different.

The city will spend $39,667,849 to pay for its long-term debt — also known as debt service — in 2014. It's the largest such debt service bill the city has paid in the past five years.

That bill includes the debt service related to the general fund, Virginia Retirement System and revenue bonds for the Hamptons Golf Course, Virginia Air and Space Center and Hampton Roads Convention Center.

It also includes $11.3 million in interest and fiscal charges, according to the budget.

The city has a policy of not spending more than 10 percent of the equivalent of its general fund and school system costs on debt service. In 2014, the annual debt service cost is 8.7 percent of the $458.4 million the city will spend, according to the budget.

The school system is paying a portion of the bill. The school board agreed to contribute $2 million from its operating fund to the city to help pay for school construction.